Featuring "Birds"

by

Quasi

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Is it indie? Is it some avant-garde spin on prog-rock? I don't know. It's not like Featuring "Birds" is all that difficult to get a feel for--the struggle between death and delicacy is pretty self-apparent. Two divorced veteran indignants, Janet Weiss of Sleater-Kinney, and Sam Coomes from Heatmiser (Elliot Smith, anyone? Half of the songs poignantly, yet lovingly, trash him) team up to depress us all with clever lyrics and emotionally wrought chord changes that I can't describe any better than what Lloyd-Webber's dramatic passion would sound like if it wasn't cheese.

The harmony between Coomes and Weiss is as fragile as their apparent will to live, which makes it all the more beautiful. At their best, for instance, "Hard To Turn Me On," Quasi can be gut-wrenchingly personal. Judging from my knowledge of this band, this song is downright GIVING to the listener. There are some weak points on this album, but that's like criticising the Mona Lisa because portraits have been done before. Bad analogy, nevermind... "Happiness is Guaranteed," the leadoff song, is a little too heavy-handed, and "The Happy Prole" has been done better by older bands with the same philosophy, but what can you do, eh?

Listening to Sam Coomes sing, I can tell he really means every word. I can feel the self-importance as well, but that comes with the territory. "Never Wanna See You Again" almost feels like one of those cheeseball triumph songs of a generation. I swear, and I listen to a good deal of music, the first time I heard this album, I actually felt optimistic concerning modern music. Quasi would be ashamed...